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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Let it Snow!

Grave of Jack Snow (1907-1956) in Piqua, Ohio

This past Christmas Eric and I took a three week road trip to Ohio to visit Eric's family. We both did a fair amount of genealogical research, too - visiting with assorted cousins and taking pictures in cemeteries.

But on the way home we took a little detour so we could visit the grave of Royal Historian of Oz, Jack Snow - author of The Magical Mimics in Oz, The Shaggy Man of Oz, and Who's Who in Oz. We arrived in Piqua, Ohio (where Snow is buried) after dark. We stopped by the Forest Hill Cemetery briefly so we'd know exactly where it was when we returned in the morning to find the grave and take a few photos.

Well we woke up to find that it had snowed about six inches during the night! Hunting for a specific gravestone in a cemetery can be hard enough when the weather is good - but when you have to brush the snow off grave stones (and you're freezing!) it can seem almost impossible.

Luckily, we found a grounds keeper who knew exactly where Snow's grave was and knew he was the author of some Oz books. I need to add that we had actually been looking for Snow's father's grave as Jack Snow's grave is unmarked. But we knew that Jack was buried to the right of his father. There are in fact a fair number of Snow graves in the same area as well as other family names such as Genslinger and Hyde.

Grave of John Alonzo Snow (Jack's Snow's father)

It has always bothered me greatly that Snow's grave is unmarked. Parts of the Snow family were very distressed by Jack's homosexuality - and this may well be the reason there is no marker.

But as you can see in the photo up top - I have at least temporarily remedied the situation!